Breaking: Delhi Court Grants Bail To Businessman Navneet Kalra In Oxygen Concentrators Hoarding Case

A Delhi Court on Saturday granted bail to Businessman Navneet Kalra arrested in connection with Oxygen Concentrators Hoarding case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Arun Kumar Garg pronounced the order after hearing Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa and Advocate Vineet Malhotra appearing for Navneet Kalra and APP Atul Shrivastava appearing for the Prosecution.

Court has granted bail to Kalra subject to furnishing of personal bond of two sureties each of Rs. 1 lakh. Furthermore, the Court has also imposed additional conditions on Kalra not to contact the customers to whom he had sold the concentrators, not to tamper with evidence or influence the witnesses and that he will join the investigation whenever required.

During the course of hearing, APP Atul Shrivastava submitted before the Court that it was a clear case of cheating and inducement people to buy sub standard quality oxygen thereby earning huge profits and was in fact a part of a conspiracy. Shrivastava submitted thus:

"What is inducement? if a person is seeing that i'm going to purchase a premium quality concentrator, made of german and oxygen flow will be there. What is cheating? Here, it's not premium, not having any connection with German, flow is not there and is not fit for use for even one person."

Refuting the contention of the defence that even police officers purchased and distributed the Concentrators to covid care centres, Shrivastava argued that it was done after Kalra sold them under the guise of the products being of a "premium German made quality."

"I'm giving an example. If I've opened my door in the night. Will it give the right to the thief to come and rob the house? Government has liberalized the policy. They've given example of Salman Khan. Salman Khan has not sold it at higher prices." Shrivastava submitted at the outset.

Relying on the recent Delhi High Court order saying the seized oxygen concentrators were allegedly sold at a huge profit margins in contravention of laws, Shrivastava submitted thus:

"You've kept all these products at Khan Chacha. You have no quality control management. You've not employed any person. You've not ensured any quality check. That too in a situation where purchasers are in death bed just for making money. Isn't it cheating? Cheating in normal case is only cheating. But here due to the gravity, it has been enhanced. Their intention was just to cheat and make profit."

Yesterday, the Court had heard the submissions made on behalf of Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa wherein it was argued that Delhi Police has no jurisdiction to investigate or to arrest him in the present case pertaining to Drugs and Cosmetics Act and that he cannot be put to pre trial detention.

Submitting that it was a case of "high headedness" and of making Kalra a scapegoat, Pahwa casted a comparison between price of oxygen Concentrators that were sold by him with those being sold at Amazon and India Mart.

"Admittedly, the oxygen Concentrators of the same make are available on Amazon and India Mart at 95,000 and 89,000 respectively whereas I'm selling them for 60,000." Pahwa submitted.

On the allegations of the products being of a sub standard quality, Pahwa went ahead to submit thus:

"If the products were sub standard, would the Delhi Police have given the same to covid care centres? I'm only on cheating. It's a clear case of high headedness. It's a clear case of making somebody a scapegoat. If they are conducting is that they are seizing it from me, and then giving the same to covid care centres for saving lives of people. It the government can do this, why can't I?"

A Delhi Court had last week turned down Delhi Police's application seeking 5 days police custody remand for Kalra after hearing the submissions of Advocate Vineet Malhotra and Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava.

Kalra is presently under judicial custody in the matter.

The Delhi Police had registered a case under Sec. 420,188,120B,34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodity Act 1955 for recovery of over 500 oxygen Concentrators from some restaurants in the national capital. The case has been transferred to the Crime Branch.

Delhi High Court had refused to grant interim protection from arrest to Kalra after he moved the High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the matter after hearing the matter for two days. A single judge bench comprising of Justice Subramonium Prasad turned down the request of Senior Advocate Abhishek Singhvi and orally remarked thus:

"I'm persuaded by the trial court's order. Interim protection cannot be given at this stage."

Earlier, Kalra's anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Sessions Court.

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